The Wedding Wish

other?” Kip asked, perplexed. He turned to Robert. “But I thought you were in medical school?”
    “I…am,” Robert stammered, suddenly overheated.
    Isabel gave him an impish look. “In some ways, it was like no time had gone by…” she mused. “In others, it was like seeing him for the very first time.”
    Kip peered under the napkin at the plantains, then narrowed his gaze at his daughter.
    Isabel widened her eyes at Robert and sat up straighter as if to contain herself from bursting out laughing. Robert could tell she was having fun with this, razzing him in front of her folks like she used to do as a kid.
    “What is it you do at the Art Center, Robert?” Trudy asked.
    “I’m afraid that’s all a big misunderstanding,” he said, avoiding Isabel’s gaze. “Actually, I work at the lab.”
    “I see,” Trudy said, obviously confused.
    Kip made an effort to redirect the conversation. “How’s your family?”
    “My parents are fine, sir. Thanks for asking.”
    “And your sister, Teresa?”
    “Working in New York in publishing.”
    “How nice.”
    “Yes, my folks are very proud of her. We all are.”
    “Is she married?” Trudy queried politely.
    Robert nodded. “To her high school sweetheart.”
    “That’s sweet,” Trudy said. “Was it an old love rekindled, or have they been together the whole time?”
    Robert’s eyes fell on Isabel, who watched him intently.
    “They’ve been together ever since the tenth grade.”
    “You see, Kip. Things like that can last.” Then, by way of explanation, she said to Robert, “My husband’s always saying they can’t. That people who fall in love young don’t stay together.”
    “Just look at Romeo and Juliet,” Kip said. “You can’t say that didn’t spell disaster.”
    “That was a play, Daddy,” Isabel said.
    “Ah! But fiction mimics life. Isn’t that what you always say, dear?” he asked Trudy.
    Her mouth fell open. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
    “Don’t mind him,” Isabel said to Robert, regarding her father. “Daddy doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body.”
    “That’s patently untrue,” Kip protested. “Just ask your mother what I got her for our last anniversary. Go on, ask.”
    Trudy sighed. “Very lovely season tickets… To the Chargers basketball games.”
    “I rest my case,” Kip said proudly. “Can’t get any more romantic than that!”
    Trudy shook her head at her husband, but Robert could tell it was in fondness. Despite his foibles, Mrs. Miller still apparently adored her husband. “Do Teresa and her husband have children?” she asked.
    “They’ve got two now, with one on the way.”
    “And you?” Kip prodded. “You’re a few years older, but never…?”
    “Dad,” Isabel admonished, “that’s really none of our business.”
    “Why not?
    “Because, it’s… You know.” She shrugged. “Personal.”
    “Well, I don’t know what’s so personal about it. An old friend of the family shows up here. I want to know about his life. There’s no reason he wouldn’t tell me.” He gave Robert a pointed stare. “Unless he’s got something to hide. Ouch! ” He reached down under the table to rub his shin, the one that Trudy had apparently just kicked.
    “Let me get some of these plates out of the way,” Trudy said, standing. She glanced around at their faces. “Then I can serve coffee, if you’d like.”
    “Sit back down, Trudy,” Kip commanded. “We’re not finished yet.”
    “I think Mom’s right,” Isabel began.
    Robert slowly raised a hand, then met all of their eyes. “It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it.” He paused, then spoke to Kip. “The truth is, sir, there was somebody. Somebody special, but as things sometimes happen, they didn’t work out. Perhaps, as you say, we started too young.”
    “I’m sorry,” Isabel murmured apologetically from across the table. “Daddy, you really shouldn’t have.”
    Trudy shook her head sympathetically. “Isabel knows just what that’s like. She and her boyfriend broke up too.”
    “ Mo-om. That was four years ago.”
    Robert studied her a beat. “I’m sorry for you too.”
    “Seriously,” she said, flustered, “I’m over it.”
    “He was a very nice boy too,” Trudy went on.
    “Nope.” Kip shook his head. “Couldn’t trust him. You know how he did that shifty thing with his eyes?”
    “Daddy!” Isabel said. “He wore contacts.”
    “That was a handy excuse.”
    “The truth is,”